Joseph Toner went from the exhilaration of finishing his ride at The Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb to a state of panic in trying to find details of why his son didn’t immediately follow him.

Connor Toner, 21, crashed in the run after his father, reportedly near Elk Park, and was airlifted to a local hospital. Penrose Hospital reported a patient with the last name Toner was in serious condition just after 7 p.m.

Race organizers were able to get Joseph Toner down the mountain on the Cog Railroad.

Conditions on the road were wet and slippery in the morning, when the motorcyclists competed. The race was held off for an hour delay while the course dried. Connor Toner was the 17th competitor to run the course.

Motorcyclists were killed in runs for the Hill Climb in each of the past two years.

Pace cars kick off anniversary celebration

Randy Schranz’s 40 years of racing Pikes Peak place him No. 1 in the event’s history, but there was a time when even he was a Hill Climb rookie.

The worst crash for Schranz on Pikes Peak came in his first practice run in his first year, when he approached a hairpin turn at Elk Park too fast and had to take his Ford Bronco into the bank, where it rolled.

“It was a pretty steep learning curve,” said Schranz, who has lived in Colorado Springs since 1959.

Schranz rode the course again Sunday in one of three pace cars that kicked of the 100th anniversary of the event. Leonard Vahsholtz, another area legend on the mountain, and Kazunori Yamauchi, who created the title-sponsor video game company Gran Turismo, also drove pace cars.

Vahsholtz had a son, Clint, and grandson, Codie, competing Sunday, while Schranz’s son, Layne, was in the field.

Safety through communication

Ducati sent three-time Hill Climb champion Carlin Dunn back to Pikes Peak on Sunday, even though the company didn’t have a bike in the field.

Dunn was part of a safety team of former drivers who were in place to communicate to those waiting to start about conditions on the course.

Dunn drove the first motorcycle up and relayed what he saw.

“I wanted to know so I could prepare myself,” motorcycle competitor Michelle DiSalvo said. “You can never get enough information, so every time they were giving an update I ran over to hear what they had to say.”

Dunn said the investment in safety can hopefully lead to the race being around another 100 years.

“I hope it sets a precedent for years to come,” he said. “The venue here causes us to race against the mountain, not necessarily against each other.”